RMR in the rain

[GJM]

It has been raining almost non-stop the last few weeks, here in Alaska. This afternoon, it let up briefly, and we hit the range to zero an AR, and shoot pistols and long guns. Minutes after getting there, it started raining hard. My wife got the T1 and iron sight zero confirmed, despite some water on the Aimpoint lens.

Next, I pulled out my Glock 17 RMR, that was protected in a Rogers holster with the hood.



Initially, all was well, and we were hitting an 8 inch steel at 50 yards, at will. Then my wife said "hey, the dot is split up, appearing as multiple dots in different parts of the display, with starbursting. I confirmed that, and blew on the emitter trying to clear it, and the whole lens fogged. The BUIS were not usable through the window of the RMR -- either through the fog, or when the lens was just wet and starbursting.

Recently we have had various threads discussing the RMR (on a shotgun, on the Roland, and in some officer's holster down south). Until we have a pistol sized RDS with a sealed emitter, I just don't see how a careful person would rely on a RMR equipped pistol for duty, if rain, snow or moisture is even a remote possibility. Even with CCW, while that pistol may generally be protected, it took surprisingly little time to become unusable today in heavy rain.

[Cheap Shot]

"Initially, all was well, and we were hitting an 8 inch steel at 50 yards,"

How long were you shooting in the rain before the RMR fogged? Any feedback from Mfg'er about why it fogged up? Was the fog internal or moisture outside on the lens?

CCW has an RMR so appreciate the info

Thanks

[okie john]

I've had the same issue with an RMR 02. The starburst effect came as soon as rain hit the sight. The fog came when I tried to clear the rain drops with my breath. How long it takes to reduce the sight's effectiveness depends on how hard it's raining. If it's a downpour, you may only have a few seconds. If it's a mist, longer.


Okie John

[psalms144.1]

IIRC, others have had similar results with RMRs in the rain. I'm a dinosaur and needed a lot of time with a RDS on my carbine to be comfortable with one as my primary sighting system, so I guess I'll wait and see a while longer on the RMR on a pistol.

Thanks for posting your experience, George!

[98z28]

Yep. That's a big part of why my RMR experiment didn't last long. The rain and fog issue popped up pretty quickly in the south Mississippi summer. Seems like I remember you posting a similar issue with snow a while back GJM, i.e. the lens getting blocked with snow making the dot and irons unusable.

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[GJM]

"Initially, all was well, and we were hitting an 8 inch steel at 50 yards,"

How long were you shooting in the rain before the RMR fogged? Any feedback from Mfg'er about why it fogged up? Was the fog internal or moisture outside on the lens?

CCW has an RMR so appreciate the info

Thanks

Cheap Shot, see Okie John's post below as he explained it.

Less than five minutes of shooting in heavy rain, put moisture on the display and emitter, causing the starbursting. To try to get the moisture off the emitter, I blew on the back of the optic, causing the display to fog.

Previously I had taken comfort that carrying a pistol with a RMR concealed would protect it. It surprised me how quickly the RMR became unusable. BUIS functioned today as "backup iron sights" in name only. Lesson learned.

I've had the same issue with an RMR 02. The starburst effect came as soon as rain hit the sight. The fog came when I tried to clear the rain drops with my breath. How long it takes to reduce the sight's effectiveness depends on how hard it's raining. If it's a downpour, you may only have a few seconds. If it's a mist, longer.


Okie John

[StraitR]

To me, the RMR is nothing more than a placeholder until something else comes out and proves itself reliable. The MOS system, or something like the Unity Tactical ATOM slide, seems to be the logical way to leave your options open (hopefully) for whatever's coming down the pipe as far as new mrds options. None of the current mrds offerings, not including the AP micro series, seem to check all the boxes enough for me to warrant milling a slide.

Worst case MOS scenarios, see if it can be milled/fitted for next gen whizbang optic when one comes along, or put the top plate back on and I have an extra 19 I paid a $40 premium for. In the meantime, I can play with the MOS + RMR.

That said, I did carry it to a neighborhood B-day party today. Could have got killed in the streets if it would have rained I guess.

[GJM]

Seems like I remember you posting a similar issue with snow a while back GJM, i.e. the lens getting blocked with snow making the dot and irons unusable.

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Many moons ago, I fell into a snow bank carrying a M&P 45 with an RMR in an unconcealed OWB holster. I assumed concealed, or a Rogers holster with a hood would prevent that.

[98z28]

Ah. That makes sense.

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[Luke]

You learned about the jelly cover in the last rain/red dot thread, when you gonna try it.